


Deal

by Jiggle_Physics



Series: The Arcana [6]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Don't worry, F/M, Forgive Me, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, No Beta, Sort Of, Spoilers, We die like men in this house, angst is a given, asra fixes it, it has asra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-02 05:32:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19192768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jiggle_Physics/pseuds/Jiggle_Physics
Summary: Asra makes a deal for the one he loves.





	Deal

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that there are spoilers in this story read at your own risk. Please enjoy my sleep-addled attempt at trying to not make the characters suffer too much.

Asra poured wax around the ashes from Lazaret the white candles' remains an intricate weaving of arches and sharp edges that nearly filled what was left of the sick room of the cursed island. The ferry deemed with carrying the infected to the island had told him of the woman, frail and deep in the illness that helped others off the boat and tended to those closer to death. She would meet the boat in the white gown appearing more a spirit than a person with the sea wind snatching at the cloth and forcing it against her skeletal form but she kept to the duty. Her hair was a mess of long tangles untended as she herded the dying onto the shores with a soothing hand on their backs and soft voice. Sometimes she was seen comforting children, walking with the old on the sands, or working in the sick room from the window while throwing out old water laden with blood. Asra nearly collapsed back into heart-wrenching sobs at the news after begging for the panicked sensation he had while hiding at Muriel's hut to not be true.

He shook himself from the memory and focused on the next step, he had to keep himself present if this was to work. Rye's cursed book sat next to him, it's binding feeling too much like flesh and too little like leather for his liking. The words scribbled from generations between mad ramblings that had been scratched in various -what he hoped- inks and exact directions. He muttered them under his breath, running his fingers over the ingredients. Crushed jasper, white candles, patchouli, spikenard, salt, and he silently quoted Rye "A damned amount of intent." He pushed them all in the correct positions and glanced outside at the shadow falling on the sun. He had to time it just right or else he'd miss the chance and would have to wait for the phenomenon to happen again determination ran through his veins rampant as he vowed to damn himself before losing another moment without Kyah in his arms. 

The sky darkened as the sun was hidden and the dagger slid across his palms so cleanly at first he didn't feel the cut in his flesh. The blood pooled and spilled as he pressed it into the warm wax, having not cooled just yet, wincing slightly as it rose from the force and made the wound tear. Wails erupted around him, claws dug into his flesh and heat scorched his body. The screams of the dead resounding in the scorched room, across the island, blanketing the land mass in its agony. Their nails embedded deep, raking marks across what felt like his boiling flesh, trying to drag him into their despair. 

He ignored them. He could stand the pain, the grasping at his soul, all for one voice. One scream of fear, torture and the edges of his name crooned to him. Asra couldn't see Kyah, not fully, only hands desperately reaching for him with his name rasping through the flames. It was more a beg on the wind than the knowledge that he was there. A plea. He grasped onto the fingers before a clawed one ripped his away, greys fading into black where the claws were resting. 

"Now, now, you mustn't touch. I'm impressed, young magician, not many would be able to manage this little trick." The voice held humor and a short amount of awe; however, it was not lacking an obscene amount of intrigue.

The goat-like creature still grasping his wrist had eased to more gentle pressure, less bruising, gazing down at human with ruby kin eyes set against shadow tinted sclera. He knew this visage from his deck that seemed to hum in the inner coat pocket he carried. The two sets of horns, the red scarf draped elegantly from shoulder to shoulder, black and gold vestments resting atop white fur, regarding him with a calculating emotion. The Devil. Asra gently pulled his wrist from the arcana, rubbing the red circle already forming on the surface. 

"I'm here for Kyah." The hot air rushed down his throat, forcing coughs from his chest as it spread to his lungs.

"Oh?" The being regarded him before putting a clawed hand against the fur of his chin, rubbing it between his forefinger and thumb, "Walk with me."

It wasn't a question even if it were to be Asra would have accepted immediately. His boots tapped against the floors of the red and gold keep that he walked through at the creature's side. The Devil was quiet as his hooves tapped on the floors before walking into the throne room away from the noise of his kingdom. He ascended the stairs of a platform to sit on the tall and angular throne, the magician stayed at the base knowing to not follow him.

"Tell me, this Kyah, what is she worth to you?" 

"Everything."

The answering smirk was vicious and filled with sharp teeth under the yielding curl of his mouth, "Everything? What would you give then? As you can see most of the plague-ridden are in my keeping, why should I restore one to you?'

Asra watched carefully, Rye had warned him of The Devil, it was a cunning arcana that enjoyed it's games even if the game was demented, "You said so yourself, it's just one person. One soul. What is it when you've many, what difference does she make?", a deep chuckle filled the air around him, seemingly coming from everywhere not just in front of him. 

"You, I like, such a waste on that fox though. Pity. You didn't answer my question though, don't think I didn't notice. What would you give?" The Devil waved a clawed hand and she was there. 

Kyah didn't appear to see him. Her body had flames licking off her skin, if it weren't for that he'd say she was submerged underwater with the way her clothes billowed and hair flowed. Her eyes were filled with tears, the sickness had stolen away their color, he craved the deep forest green he had come to love. The red under her eyes looked more scar-like and the blood posing as tears were burning the flesh like acid where it rolled down. He knew if she turned her head, her ears would have the same symptom. She appeared a skeleton with the skin drawn tightly over it. Sick. Gods she looked so sick. 

"She cried out your name when it happened, but you weren't there to hear. One wonders if she'd forgive you, by the chance that you had something suitable to give. After all, it was you that left her to such a fate."

Rage boiled beneath his skin, like the start of a tsunami in his body, he wanted to snarl. He knew it was his fault. He should have fought her harder, should have stolen her away kicking and screaming, it was his fault she'd died. He knew. There was the smallest slip, the simplest of tugs and he snapped back into focus. Asra reminded himself that he needed to be present in all ability or else he'd lose himself and would have to find another way into The Devil's realm. Clever of the creature perched on his golden throne. 

"Anything."

"Hm?"

"My answer. Anything for her. My everything, take it, whatever you need but bring her back to me."

The devil stood to allow a clawed hand to rake gently against the edges of the long flowing hair, Asra bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood. He wanted to snatch her away. A roar in his mind at her being touched pressed against the back of his throat.

"Anything? You're eyes? Hands? Soul?" The hooves clicked against the stairs as he moved away from Kyah.

"All and more if it's needed."

"Half your heart, to return her." The clawed hand reached out in the offer.

Asra reached out before pausing, "I have your word, she comes back exactly as she was."

"Yes. There may be a modification or two, you don't want her to return on the edge of death after all. Now. Have we a deal?"

"Yes."

The moment their hands touched a pain tore through his chest, a blinding light spilling across where his heart rested. His scream seemed to match the laughter of The Devil and mirrored the wail of his lover still standing set aflame by the throne. An exact image of the symbol he'd drawn on the sick room ground was branded into his chest over his heart. The sun spilled into the sky, blinding and white in its hue as the shadow slowly passed over it giving light to the previous dark. Someone was still shrieking and he opened eyes he didn't realize he had closed. Kyah's voice cracked and she collapsed onto the ground in a heap, the ash flying out with the air and the ingredients scattering. 

Asra moved more quickly than he had in his entire existence, scrambling to her wheezing body that was trying to take it's first deep gulps of breath. She looked as she had in The Devil's real. Yet, as the shadow passed so did the marks of the realm. The scars, blood, and sickness faded leaving behind a weak Kyah but alive. She was alive. There was a spark in the dark green eyes gazing hazily up at him. 

"Kyah?" The woman opened her mouth but a whisper of a groan came from her lips and panic rose in his body. 

"Don't worry so, I gave her back as she came, sans sickness as agreed." Asra's mind flurried through the symptoms of the ill, her tongue would have been so swollen it wouldn't allow her to talk, she'd been so weak she wouldn't have been able to walk, "Some things might be blurred but our accord is done."

"Blurred?"

"Oh, it could be anything from certain skills to memory." There was a smirk in the voice, Asra knew The Devil wasn't on the mortal coil, "You'll have to see, won't you? Enjoy little magician."

He pulled her closer to his chest uncaring of anything else. She lived, that's all that mattered. She lived.


End file.
